But not playing 🙂 just watching. I decided to drive down to San Diego and experience the US Open atmosphere. A few days ago I flew into Las Vegas as I have the opportunity to compete at a long drive event being held in Mesquite (more on that later). I was able to get tickets to go out on Tuesday and Wednesday to watch the best players in the world get ready for this huge event.

This is the first major championship I’ve been ever to. I would rather be playing, but hey, watching is probably the next best thing. There’s still a lot I can learn from just being here. My first observation was towards how open the course was. Open visually that is. There is miles of rough everywhere to catch anything slightly off line.

But what stands out the most is the importance of short game. Short game is the key. If you don’t have a super short game you do not have a chance of winning the US Open. The greens are really firm too. Wedge shots coming in take a massive leap, then spin. If you have to come into the green from the rough… good luck to ya.

The course has a nice amount of roll to the terrain and the greens are nicely shaped and contoured. The tiers in the greens would make it good fun to play. Overall Torrey Pines is one brutal golf course set up tough and VERY long.

Johan Edfors flash new bag:

Can Trevor Immelman go back to back in the Majors? He’s working at it:

These were the crowds during the practice round:

The American’s sure love their golf… and their merchandise: